Richardson a big fan of the King -- no, the other one

Proving once again that NASCAR's garages are full of interesting characters, driver Robert Richardson Jr. sat down recently and covered a wide-ranging number of topics.

But mostly he talked about Elvis.

Elvis had (and still has) his fans; so, too, does Robert Richardson Jr.

As in Presley.

A former backup quarterback at Southern Methodist University, Richardson is trying hard to make his way as a full-time driver in the Nationwide Series, where he drives the No. 23 Chevrolet for R3 Motorsports. He also drives occasionally in the Sprint Cup Series for Front Row Motorsports, including in the season-opening Daytona 500 when he finished 31st.

But mostly he's all about Elvis -- and with NASCAR heading to Las Vegas this weekend, it seemed the perfect time to talk with Richardson.

Q: What are your goals for this season in the Nationwide Series car?

Richardson: Looking for sponsorship for the remainder of this season is our biggest deal. I'm pretty confident that we can find something maybe within the next five races or so. But it's really hard right now with the economy -- and we're not the only team out there searching for sponsorship. Everybody's scratching for as many nickels and dimes as they can put together.

I would say that our team is pretty marketable. I would say we're lower budget than most of the teams that are out here, especially when you look at the Cup teams and all. And that's attractive to companies right now, because if they can get the same amount of exposure for a lower amount of money, they're gonna take it. You hear a lot about other teams asking for $6 million to $10 million to run a full season, whereas we can run a full season on $2 million or $3 million and still be competitive.

I think right now we have the first 18 races penciled in. If we don't have sponsorship after that, we'll reevaluate. But like I said, I'm pretty confident we'll find something. (Continued)